Huata

We had a chilled morning and breakfast in the hotel before starting our first full day in Sucre.
We decided to get on the ‘dino’ bus at 11am which took us to the location of the world's largest dinosaur footprints.
The footprints were actually discovered by the cement plant (which is next door to the dinosaur park) when they were looking to mine limestone to use in the cement.
We joined an English speaking tour and learnt all about how the footprints came to be in Sucre and why it looks like the dinosaurs are walking up walls! This is because the tectonic plates moved here and pushed the ground up which was previously flat so it is now vertical. Millions of years ago there was a lake in Sucre where dinosaurs would go to drink - you can even tell by the spacing of the footprints whether a dinosaur was going to the lake (larger spacings because they would be running!) or coming from the lake (shorter spacings).

After examining the footprints up close, we viewed the museum before heading back to the main square where we did a tour of the House of Liberty. This is where Bolivia's declaration of independence was signed so it is very significant for Bolivia's history. We took a tour with an English guide and learnt about Bolivia's history. Sucre was part of an area previously know as La Plata in the 1700s. There were a number of uprisings in the late 1700s / early 1800s seeking liberation from the Spanish rule. Many of these were started by indigenous groups and there are rooms of the musesum recognising the significant contributions of many people in the lead-up to Bolivia's independence. A significant couple who fought during some of the uprisings are Manuel Ascencio Padilla and Juana Azurduy and their ashes are held in the musesum. Even though Bolivia was the first South American country to have an uprising and seek independence, they were the last to obtain it because of their lucrative resources. After 16 years of battles, Bolivia obtained its independence in 1824. It was called Alto Peru (High Peru) prior to this and was called Bolivar for 2 months (after the general Simon Bolivar). In 1825, Manuel Martin Cruz said that "From Romulo becomes Rome, from Bolivar becomes Bolivia" so the nation's name was changed to Bolivia. We also learnt about the many battles with Chile (known as the Pacific War), Brazil and others which led to Bolivia also losing some parts of its land. The tour finished with us in a room with different presidents and learning about their histories. We also learnt that the Bolivian flag contains the colours red to represent the blood of the people who fought during the uprisings, yellow for the country's minerals and green for the rainforest.

After the musesum, we went for a quick snack of paninis before having showers at the hotel to freshen up. We went for dinner and drinks at an incredible rooftop bar where we had a massive schnitzel for dinner!

We then went to a salsa club and participated in another salsa class which involved us having to rotate partners with people all around the room! Daniel and a lot of the group went back to the hotel and Gab stayed back with some of the girls and danced a bit more before calling it a night!Read more